The present invention pertains in general to monitoring of computer networks, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method and apparatus for automatically monitoring devices which are connected to a communication network and are manageable using Simple Network Management Protocol.
Communication networks are changing the way people communicate, distribute, and share information. There are many different ways information can be accessed, shared, or communicated on a network. For example, networks are used to access software applications running on a file server, to send e-mail to someone in another country, and to access information on remote computer servers. Networks consist of many different devices connected together in some form to allow one device to benefit from another. These devices include, but are not limited to, switches, routers, repeaters, hubs, terminals, servers, queuing devices, and peripheral equipment such as printers, modems, and scanners. Communication networks allow the user to access remote programs and remote databases either of the same organization or from other enterprises or public sources. They also provide communication possibilities faster than other facilities. Because of these optimal information and communication possibilities, computer networks often increase the organizational learning rate, which many authors declare as a fundamental advantage in competition.
These benefits, however, do not come without their problems. Network systems can be very complex with complex problems which are difficult to identify and solve. To help identify network problems and solutions, network management tools have been developed to monitor networks and identify problems or potential problems associated with the networks.
A limitation of current network management tools is that they do not provide the user with meaningful or valuable monitoring of networks. Using current network management tools, a user manually configures specific attributes for monitoring each device interface within the communication network. Furthermore, the user is required to configure meaningful thresholds for each of the configured monitor attributes. Without substantial expertise and a great deal of time to configure the network management tools, the user is unlikely to select correct attributes and thresholds to provide meaningful data, and thus, the network management tools are unable to do anything more than indicate whether devices within the communication network are dead or alive. It is widely known that users believe that performing network management is too difficult and time consuming, and therefore, make no attempt at network monitoring.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to devise a method and apparatus for providing a user with automatic monitoring of devices residing within a communication network. It would further be advantageous if such a method and apparatus automatically selected the attributes, associated thresholds and formulas for monitoring each type of interface on each type of device residing within the communication network.
The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for automatically monitoring Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) manageable devices. A processor accesses a memory storage device to retrieve a device definition file and an interface definition file associated with each interface referenced in the device definition file. The processor creates a Device-Type-Specific Formula-Monitor Definitions (DTSFMD) data structure based on information contained within the device definition file and the interface definition files and stores the DTSFMD data structure in the storage device.
The processor accesses a communication network to retrieve information used to identify the types of devices and associated interfaces located within the communication network. Based on the retrieved information, the devices are identified as a router, a switch, a repeater or a device for which no monitoring is to occur. Based on the retrieved information and requirements established in the DTSFMD, the processor determines which interfaces are to be monitored and how they are to be monitored and automatically performs monitoring to generate data for graphical displays and the setting and clearing of alarms.